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Lot Essay
Sir Charles Henry Coote, 9th Baronet (1792-1864), was the son of Chidley Coote (d.1799) and his wife Elizabeth Anne, daughter of Reverend Ralph Carr, of Bath. On the death of his kinsman Sir Charles Henry Coote, 7th Earl of Mountrath, in 1802, he succeeded by special remainder to the baronetcy while the other titles became extinct. The 9th Baronet went on to marry Caroline (d.1871), daughter of John Whaley of Whaley Abbey, co. Wicklow in 1814.
Between 1821 and 1824 Sir Charles built Ballyfin House, Mountrath, replacing a house built in 1778 by William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington and brother of the Duke of Wellington. The house was described as 'the grandest and most lavishly appointed early nineteenth century Classical house in Ireland (M. Bence-Jones, ed., Burke's Guide to Country Homes: vol.I, Ireland, 1978, p.21), with an interior decorated with rich plasterwork and scagliola columns. The estate was sold by the Coote family in the early part of the 20th century and, after being a school for part of the 20th century, is now run as a hotel.
This present dessert-service forms just a small portion of a vast service dating from 1812 which includes a massive pair of candelabra by Benjamin Smith (Lyon and Turnbull, London, 23 November 2008, lot 158), a suite of salvers by William Burwash, (Christie's, New York, 27 October 1992, lots 218 and 219); eighteen dinner and eighteen soup plates (Christie's, New York, 19 October 1981, lots 110 and 111) and a pair of chamber candlesticks by Story and Elliott (Christie's, New York, 30 October 1991, lot 166).
Between 1821 and 1824 Sir Charles built Ballyfin House, Mountrath, replacing a house built in 1778 by William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington and brother of the Duke of Wellington. The house was described as 'the grandest and most lavishly appointed early nineteenth century Classical house in Ireland (M. Bence-Jones, ed., Burke's Guide to Country Homes: vol.I, Ireland, 1978, p.21), with an interior decorated with rich plasterwork and scagliola columns. The estate was sold by the Coote family in the early part of the 20th century and, after being a school for part of the 20th century, is now run as a hotel.
This present dessert-service forms just a small portion of a vast service dating from 1812 which includes a massive pair of candelabra by Benjamin Smith (Lyon and Turnbull, London, 23 November 2008, lot 158), a suite of salvers by William Burwash, (Christie's, New York, 27 October 1992, lots 218 and 219); eighteen dinner and eighteen soup plates (Christie's, New York, 19 October 1981, lots 110 and 111) and a pair of chamber candlesticks by Story and Elliott (Christie's, New York, 30 October 1991, lot 166).